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Another explosion - and everyone ran

Ali Moore

BBC News, Jakarta

Posted at15.01

It was looking like it was all over. The traffic was flowing, the debris from the morning's bomb attack washed away, the police post boarded up, condolence flowers laid and commuters milling around reflecting on the day's events.

But then there was another explosion and everyone ran - including the bomb squad and police. Traffic was stopped and the night went quiet. Within minutes it was confirmed as a burst truck tyre - and people moved back onto the sidewalk to survey the scene. But Jakarta is jittery.

There's been increasing concern about what the rise of Islamic State means for homegrown terror groups in this country. Perhaps today Indonesia got the beginnings of an answer.

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Street swept clean

Ali Moore

BBC News, Jakarta

Posted at14.19

If you didn’t know and didn’t look too closely, you could be standing near the site of Thursday’s bombings in Jakarta and have no idea this country has just experienced its worst terror attack since 2009.

Nine hours after it began, the street has been swept, the blood washed away, the police post covered in bill boards decorated with pictures of flowers and butterflies, and the traffic is flowing.

But look more closely and there’s still a hole in the tarmac – caused by a suicide bomb - in what is the bus lane on this busiest of Jakarta thoroughfares.

The traffic is lighter than usual and the street food hawkers are doing a less than brisk trade, even though dozens of people are milling around, having a look – staring at the condolence flowers laid in the centre of the intersection.

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Police give details of the wounded

Posted at14:14

Jakarta police have released an update on the list of people injured in Thursday's blasts. They say 23 people were wounded, including five police officers.

Among the injured is an Algerian - who was with a Canadian man when he was shot and killed at Starbucks - a German, an Austrian and a Dutch national. The Dutch national, an environmental expert working with the UN, is undergoing surgery, the statement said.

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Jakarta suspect 'praised Paris attacks'

Bahrun Naim, the man named by Indonesian police chief Tito Karnavian as being behind the attacks in Jakarta, is said to have published a blog post last year praising the 13 November attacks in Paris.

In the post, dated 16 November 2015, Bahrun Naim apparently describes the attacks as "inspirational" and praises the perpetrators for their discipline, meticulous planning and willingness to sacrifice themselves.

"Why were the attacks inspirational?" the blog post reads. "First, a large number of people fell victim to the attack in Paris. Second, the attack was well planned in terms of target, timing and a courageous end to the attack. Only elite soldiers would use suicide vests rather than be captured or cornered."

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Location of attacks 'symbolically powerful'

Posted at13.11

The location of Thursday's attacks in central Jakarta is symbolically powerful, says Tom Pepinsky, Associate Professor of Government at Cornell University in the US.

"[It is] Indonesia’s first international-style mall, fallen on harder times as of late but still understood among Jakartans as an early and powerful symbol of Indonesian prosperity," Prof Pepinsky writes in a blog.

The latest attack is also operationally different from other militant attacks in Indonesia, he says, which were big events with large devices.

This time more individuals with guns and grenades were involved rather than suicide bombers acting alone.

"It suggests they were preparing for a fight," he says.

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Police stifle the attack over three hours

Posted at13:0514 Jan

A plainclothes police officer aims his gun at attackers - it took the security forces about three hours to end the attack near a Starbucks cafe and Sarinah's - Jakarta's oldest department store - after a team of at least seven militants traded gunfire with police and blew themselves up.

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Traffic returns in Jakarta

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UK condemns Jakarta attacks

The UK has condemned the attacks in Jakarta as a "senseless acts of terror", Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a statement.

Mr Hammond also called on all British nationals to remain vigilant.

"We advise British nationals in Jakarta and elsewhere in Indonesia to maintain vigilance and monitor travel advice, local media and to follow the advice of local security authorities," the statement said.

The UK and Indonesia agreed to step up joint efforts to counter militant Islamists in the region last year.

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The Jakarta attacks: What we know so far

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Jakarta attacks 'part of a pattern'

Frank Gardner

BBC Security Correspondent

Posted at12:20

Today's attack on the Indonesian capital is sadly part of a pattern that has been repeating itself in several cities around the world in recent months. Istanbul, Paris and now Jakarta have all experienced what counter-terrorism officials classify as a "Marauding Terrorist Firearms Attack", or 'MTFA' for short.

In other words, police forces have had to react quickly to the sudden appearance of an unknown number of gunmen rampaging through the heart of an urban area, intent on killing as many people as possible and securing themselves maximum publicity.

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'We thought blast was thunder'

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UN worker seriously hurt in blast

Posted at11:34

The UN's Environment Programme (UNEP) has confirmed that one of its employees was seriously injured in the attacks.

The Dutch national, married with four children, is a renowned expert in forestry and ecosystems and was providing support to the Indonesian government in combating peat-land fires, the organisation said in a statement.

Programme Director Achim Steiner said his colleague was "currently fighting for his life" and condemned "these senseless acts of terror".

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo visits scene of attack

Posted at11.31

Reuters

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (centre, wearing a white shirt) visited the site of a bomb blast on Thursday. Earlier on national TV, he vowed to catch those involved and urged Indonesians to stay calm and "not be frightened by what has happened".

Number of injured rises to 19

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Australia attorney-general offers help

Posted at09:51

Australia's attorney-general George Brandis says that the government has offered law enforcement and intelligence assistance to Indonesia. Canberra and Jakarta have worked closely on counter-terrorism initiatives since the 2002 Bali bombings.

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The location of the attacks

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'We were searched and searched'

Posted at09:49

Another eyewitness, Australian Barry Kissan, was in same building as the Starbucks café, a few floors above, when he heard the blast. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today what happened:

We looked out the windows and saw that the police posts just near this building had been blown up and there were two bodies on the roadway. Shortly afterward there was a series of explosions which I think might have been grenade blasts but I don't know.

I'm certainly no expert but there were explosions actually in this building and the building shook a little bit. We made our way eventually downstairs to an emergency exit and on the way at various points we could hear what sounded like gunfire or small explosions of some kind. It wasn't clear if anybody knew where we should go.

We eventually went down to the car park… We were searched and searched. They were clearly looking for missing people who weren’t among us.

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'We thought it was thunder'

Posted at09:42

Rob Phillips is an English teacher who says he lives 400m from where the attacks took place.

There was lot of commotion, a lot of craziness. We heard a large bang. We thought it was thunder because the storms here are pretty big. Then, when we heard a second one, we actually went out onto the street to see what was going on and we saw white smoke rising against the air. And then we knew that something was going on.